The concept is similar to a gift registry, like those used for a wedding or baby shower.

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Unlike Steed, whose space buff sister-in-law called her outside that morning, she was getting ready for a relative's baby shower and didn't see the breakup.

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"That's how I started my regular gigs -- It's Your Birthday, It's Your Retirement, It's Your Baby Shower -- which gave me steady customers and some cash flow, " says Breslin.

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Jamal Williams, 18, who said he was a friend of Mr. Gray, said he had been with Mr. Gray and a group of friends at a baby shower earlier on Saturday evening.

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The US tradition of having a baby shower to celebrate an impending birth is now commonplace in the UK. But "foetus parties", where people gather to view 3D and 4D scan pictures are also gaining in popularity.

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Today, I need to: meet Cristina for coffee, pick up dry-cleaning, buy a gift for baby-shower.

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Deschanel, who's dabbled in jazz cabaret and sung on the occasional film soundtrack, has starred in such movies as Elf (you might remember her in-the-shower rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside") and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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